MIT mesh networking Publications

More good publications from MIT on mesh networking

The Grid Ad�Hoc Networking Project: Publications

Setting up a Linux machine to become an access point

1. Make sure you install dhcpd off the Mandrake disks
2. Put the Wireless card into access point mode with the following example script /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wifi0

DEVICE=wifi0
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=192.168.0.1
ONBOOT=yes
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
NETWORK=192.168.0.0
BROADCAST=192.168.0.255
DHCP_TIMEOUT=5
WIRELESS_MODE=Master
WIRELESS_ESSID=mesh
WIRELESS_CHANNEL=10

3. run ifup wifi0
4. copy /etc/dhcpd.conf.sample (this file only exisits the first time you install dhcpd) to dhcpd.conf ... Change the IP address allocations in this file to suite your needs
5. start dhcpd with /etc/rc.d/init.d/dhcpd
6. Check the /var/lib/dhcpd/dhcpd.leases to check which IP addresses are being assigned

Setting up the SANOA card in linux

1. Download the hostap driver from ftp://edna.icomtek.csir.co.za/pub/drivers ... This driver ensures that the SANOA card can run in Access point mode as well as Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure
2. Unzip using gunzip < hostap-driver-0.2.4.tar.gz | tar xvf -
3. Change Makefile to include KERNEL_PATH ... KERNEL_PATH=/usr/src/linux
4. Run 'make'
5. run 'make install'
6. Restart card manager using /etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia restart

If you are using the PCI to PCMCIA bridge card with the RLSC475 chipset follow these steps

1. Edit the file /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia to include these lines
PCMCIA=yes
PCIC=RLSC475
2. Run /etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia restart

Linux network configurations tips

Linux network configuration

1. Setting IP address and modes of interface

The file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 contains all the settingsfor interface eth0 including
IP allocation type (static or dynamic)
IP Address
Subnet mask
Broadcast address
Wireless mode
wireless channel

type
# man ifcfg
to see all the options for this config file

Use
# ifup eth0
to bring eth0 network interface up using the script ifcfg-eth0

#ifdown eth0
to pull the eth0 interface down


2. The DNS nameserver

The file /etc/resolve.conf contains the nameserver (dns) to use for the network

3. The gateway and other network routes

To see the current network routes type
# route
This will show you all the routes which the network is currently using

To add a new route for interface eth0 type
# route add -net 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev eth0

This adds a route to the network 10.0.0.0 using device eth0

# route add default gw 10.0.0.8
Adds a default route which will be used if no other route matches.

There should be an existing route, in this case, to 10.0.0.8 through some interface.

Good wireless and networking to install off the Mandrake CD's - and some install tips

1. Kismet: An 802.11 network sniffer and network detecter

Common applications Kismet is useful for:

- Wardriving: Mobile detection of wireless networks, logging and mapping
of network location, WEP, etc.
- Site survey: Monitoring and graphing signal strength and location.
- Distributed IDS: Multiple Remote Drone sniffers distributed throughout
an installation monitored by a single server, possibly combined with a
layer3 IDS like Snort.
- Rogue AP Detection: Stationary or mobile sniffers to enforce site policy
against rogue access points.

Setup tips

Make sure you set up the following in /etc/kismet.conf or they may be in /usr/local/etc/kismet.conf

1. Setup the target suiduser: eg. suiduser=djohnson
2. Setup the capture sources using the 'source' directive: eg. source=hostap_prism2,wifi0,david (this works for the SANOA cards)

Change to root
run kismet_monitor to put the wifi card into monitor mode
run kismet

When you are finished using kismet
run kismet_unmonitor to put the wifi card back into it's previous mode

2. Ethereal: A network traffic analyser - this is used to view the network packet dumps produced by Kismet

3. Etherape: A graphical network viewer

MeshDynamics--High Performance Mesh Networks for HotZones and Metro

This company claims that only their proprietry mesh network (Structured Mesh) can create useable city wide mesh networks.

MeshDynamics--High Performance Mesh Networks for HotZones and Metro

Daily Wireless - Ugly truth about mesh networks

This is why it is so important to build a real experimental mesh network which will be tested under high usage situations

Read the first argument and the counter-arguments to get the whole picture in this article

Daily Wireless - Ugly truth about mesh networks

IP addresses for the office mesh

It appears that we need to use static IP addresses for the mobile mesh network. For Computers in Building 43 - here are the current IP address assignments

10.0.0.2 - Lawrence: Free-BSD machine 1
10.0.0.3 - Lawrence: Mandrake Linux machine 2
10.0.0.4 - Andrew: Mandrake Linux machine
10.0.0.5 - David: Edna Mandrake Linux machine (can be used as a gateway)
10.0.0.6 - David: Mandrake Linux laptop
10.0.0.7 - Andrew/Kim: Debian Linux Digital doorway machine

10.0.0.8 - Albert: Laptop Windows machine
10.0.0.9 - David/Kim: Norbit Mandrake Linux machine
10.0.0.10 - Kim: Desktop Windows machine
10.0.0.11 - Ajay: Desktop windows machine
10.0.0.12 - Yusuf: Desktop windows machine
10.0.0.13 - Andrew: Desktop windows machine

Anyone that wants to become part of the mesh must contact me for an IP address

Nice receipte for setting up Linux as an access point

O'Reilly Wireless dev centre 802.11b linux AP recipe?

Radio theory and link planning for Wireless LAN (WLAN) - good summary

Radio theory and link planning for Wireless LAN (WLAN)

Everyone should know the free space loss equation in their head

Loss [ dB] = 32.44 + 20(Log(distance[km]) + Log(freq[MHz]))

Useful cable losses

RG58 = 1 dB/m
RG213 = -.6 dB/m
RG174 = 2 dB/m (often used in pigtails)
LMR-400 = 0.22 dB/m

Typical WiFi sensitivity for orinoco cards

11Mbps = -82dBm
5.5Mbps = -87dBm
2Mbps = -92dBm
1Mbps = -94dBm

Typical allowed signal to noise ratios for orinoco cards

11Mbps = 16dB
5.5Mbps = 11dB
2Mbps = 7dB
1Mbps = 4dB

Typical Noise level at 2.4GHz = -100dBm. Compute S/N level eg. at 11Mbps = -84dBm but sensitivity is -82dBm so sensitivity is the limiting factor.

Just worked out that with our 2 8dBi omnis, 2dB loss in the RF cable each side of the link and the 200mW SANOA cards it is possible to acheive a theoretical distance of 5km with a 3dB margin (margin probably a bit tight), 4km will give you a 5dB margin - probably more realistic.

Mobile Ad-hoc Networks home page at the IETF

Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (manet) Charter

All COINers should study these protocols

Internet-Drafts:
The Dynamic Source Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (DSR)

Request For Comments:
Mobile Ad hoc Networking (MANET): Routing Protocol Performance Issues and Evaluation Considerations (RFC 2501)
Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) Routing (RFC 3561)
Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR) (RFC 3626)
Topology Dissemination Based on Reverse-Path Forwarding (TBRPF) (RFC 3684)

Detailed info on the Linksys Wrt54g

Info on LinksysWrt54g - SeattleWireless

Hardware onboard V 1.0

RAM: 2 x IC42S16400, 64Mbit (4M X 16) RAM chips (16MB)
Flash: [WWW]AMD AM29LV320DB-90EI, a 32Mbit chip (4MB)
CPU: [WWW]Broadcom BCM4702KPB, with a 125MHz MIPS and two 10/100 Ethernet controllers
Ethernet: [WWW]ADMtek ADM6996 5 port 10/100 switch
version 1.0: Mini PCI slot with Linksys/Broadcom radio FCC ID PKW-WM54G, dual Hirose antenna connectors
version 1.1: has the wireless integrated on the mainboard

Version 2.0:

RAM: 2 x IC42S16400, 64Mbit (4M X 16) RAM chips (16MB)
Flash: Intel TE28F320 C3 flash 32Mbit chip (4MB)
CPU: Broadcom [WWW]BCM4712KPB, running at 200MHz
Ethernet: [WWW]ADMtek ADM6996 5 port 10/100 switch
Wireless: On board; Broadcom BCM2050KWL

Some alternative operating systems available

OpenWrt
Batbox

Talk of installing this mesh protocol on OpenWrt
OLSR

Good comparison of Linksys WRT54G, Soekris and Meshcube

Slashdot | Meshcube: A New Mesh-Routing Wireless Device: "http://www.olsr.org"

Fwd: Patch Antenna?

This may be useful to COIN, not sure....

http://www.rc-cam.com/gp_patch.htm

- Kim

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Good contact made with Champaign-Urbana community wireless network

Here's their home page

This organisation has also been funded by the IDRC and Johann has made contact with them

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004, Johann Hugo wrote:
> On Wednesday 07 July 2004 23:16, you wrote:
> > tell us something about your background and skillset.
>
> Hi Chase
>
> I am working for the CSIR in South Africa (www.csir.co.za). The CSIR is
> the premier technology and research organisation in Africa.
>
> My area of expertise is mainly in outdoor wifi networks and FreeBSD and
> I've been involved with it since 2000. Most of our projects are around
> bettering the lives of people in rural areas, using state of the art
> technologies. We've won a Stockholm award in both 2000 and 2004 for some of
> the work that we have done. Here are some links of the stuff I've been
> involved with: http://www.cda.co.za
> http://www.cda.co.za/Media%20Cache/2000/Technobrief%20June%202000/Technobri
>ef% 20June%202000.htm
> http://www.digitaldoorway.co.za
> http://www.challenge.stockholm.se/feature_index.asp
>
> Our unit started with wireless Lans in about 1998 using Lucent wireless
> cards and Karl Brug software. Later we started using FreeBSD (One of the
> group members are a FreeBSD developer and we are also a mirror site for
> FreeBSD in South Africa). Our current wifi systems are mostly green soekris
> boxes running FreeBSD (I think we were one of soekris first clients). We've
> set up a couple of wifi networks and we are running voice, video and data
> over these networks.

Excellent! It would appear our groups have much in common.

> One of our latest activities is to change our current network and to set up
> an experimental wifi mesh network with about 25 nodes in the Pretoria area.
> Once this is up and running there will be followups where we install mesh
> networks (+ training ) into some rural areas.
>
> Our group are currently looking at mobilemesh that runs on Linux. Some of
> members of the team are busy trying to port it to FreeBSD. See link to our
> blog spot (some of the team ony use our wifi):
> http://CSIRCOIN.BlogSpot.com/

Interesting. I'll make sure people on our team see this.

> I had a look on your website and are very interested in your system. I've
> downloaded your images and made a bootable CD + burnt a flash for a soekris
> box. I can boot the images, but I cannot log in as root and change
> settings.
>
> Some questions:
> May we know the root password for your images ?

From what I understand, the root password in the images on the website is
currently nothing which locks the system from root logins. If you
download the upgrade tarball you can take a look at the system image
itself.

At this time we recommend you set up a development environment and build
an ISO image if you wish to preconfigure it with a specific root password.
We plan to add some scripts which makes configuring aspects of an image
possible without a complete development environment.

I'll be happy to help you in setting up that development environment, as
well.

> Are your source code open source ?

Yes. Our code is covered by a BSD-variant license. You can find a sample
of that license at:

http://www.cuwireless.net/faq.html#software-license

> Are HSLS and ETX running on your current system ?

A three-part answer:

* Not in the images on the website taken on May 11, 2004.

* Yes in the images on our source code trunk, but HSLS and ETX are not
affecting the route tables, only running to measure that they are
working as expected.

* Yes in our next release, tentatively scheduled for the fourth week of
July, but, again not affecting the route tables.

Until HSLS and ETX are completely turned on, we are using OSPF.

> May we try to port your code to FreeBSD ?
> (We prefer FreeBSD to NetBSD because of our expertise with FreeBSD)

We welcome ports! I hear that a port to FreeBSD should be easy compared
to some other platforms.

> Do you plan a Linux port as well ?
> (Some of the group are Linux users)

Porting the software to run on Linux would probably take some work. We're
not certain if/when we'll get around to it. The biggest API differences
are, from what I understand, in the IPv4/IPv6 parts of the networking
system.

We think that the first step for CUWiN on Linux is to build the software
with NetBSD as the target platform. I, for one, am interested in doing
this as my main systems are all Linux. No ETA on when it will happen,
though. Of course, we'd welcome any assistance you or your team has to
offer.

We're very excited about the prospect of working together, especially in
light of the recent IDRC grants given to wireless groups in Africa.

Chase

Some more useful mesh info

Complete list of mesh protocols - Wiki site

Desciprion of protcols being used at CU wireless

To sustain the scalability of its infrastructure, Community
Wireless Network needs software that implements an uncomplicated,
extensible routing protocol that will support a network of
hundreds of nodes, and a routing path metric that "prefers"
reliable, high-capacity routes to spotty, low-capacity routes.

Based on a review of the wireless networking literature, BBN
Technologies' Hazy Sighted Link State (HSLS) routing algorithm
will support growth to thousands of nodes, which will more than
meet our requirements. HSLS also admits a parsimonious
implementation that will be far easier for a grassroots project
to debug and extend than more complicated algorithms whose
scalability is comparatively poor. The Expected Transmission
Count (ETX) path metric is a simple, proven routing path metric
that favors high-capacity, reliable links. The Community
Wireless Network will develop a UNIX routing daemon implementing
HSLS and ETX. The major functional units of the daemon are
described below.

CWN will leverage existing open source software whenever that
is possible. For example, the Zebra routing software suite
will provide our Routing Information Base (RIB) and kernel
abstraction. Because we will re-use Zebra, we will save tens
of hours of development and debugging, we will gain some
inter-operating system portability (*BSD, Linux, Solaris), and
we will have the capability to extend our HSLS daemon to share
routes with other routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, and RIP) in
the future.


More detailed description of HSLS

More detailed descrtiption of ETX

Fwd: ZDNet UK: Open-source Wi-Fi links remote communities

> Open-source Wi-Fi links remote communities
>
>
>
> Andrew Donoghue
>
>
>
>
>
> European wireless and open-source specialists have embarked on an
> international tour to spread the benefits of the technology to
> developing
> countries from Tajikistan to Ghana.
>
> The team, known as Informal, claims its wireless roadshow is an
> attempt to
> empower non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the developing world

> to own,
> operate and grow their own Internet infrastructure using wireless
> technology
> such as mesh networking. The aim is to allow remote communities in
> developing
> countries without traditional telecoms infrastructure to communicate

> more
> effectively.
>
> "We support these kinds of activities because we believe that the
> benefits of
> the Internet should be available globally," said Informal lead team

> member
> Simon Crab.
>
> While a lot of attention has been focused on bridging the digital
> divide and
> providing Internet access to remote areas, Informal claims to be
more
> concerned with allowing local communities to exchange information
with
> each
> other -- spreading local knowledge. "In each country, we will work
> primarily
> with local NGOs to assist them in building, maintaining and extending

> their
> own networks in areas that are under-served by telecommunication
> infrastructure," said Crab.
>
> The Informal team recently arrived in Tajikistan where it will remain

> for
> next three months before moving onto Ghana, Nepal, the Philippines,

> China and
> finally India.
>
> Existing examples of wireless technology projects in the developing

> world
> include DakNet and First Mile Solutions in Cambodia and the Jhai
> Foundation's
> Remote IT Village Project in Laos.
>
> Informal plans to use emerging wireless mesh technology to create
> cheap,
> robust connections in remote areas that do not have an established
> telecoms
> infrastructure. Each device on a mesh network receives and transmits

> its own
> traffic, while acting as a router for other devices; intelligence in

> each
> device allows it to automatically configure an efficient network, and

> to
> adjust if, for example, a node becomes overloaded or unavailable.
The
> advantages include ease of set-up, the ability to spread wireless
> access over
> a wide area from a single central wired connection, and the inherent
> toughness of such networks.
>
> Key to the Informal project is the development of a blueprint for a

> low-cost,
> wireless, rugged computing device which Informal will encourage the

> NGOs to
> develop and build. The so-called Autonokit will essentially be a
> low-cost
> computer that can work on non-standard power sources such as solar,

> wind,
> micro-hydro or even bicycle power.
>
> The Autonokit will run an open-source Linux or BSD distribution
> optimised for
> networking and auto configuration. It will be equipped with a 12V
> battery in
> case of power cuts, low wind or a fuel shortage.
>
> In an article written for CNET, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan
> spelled out
> the potential benefits that wireless and other technologies could
> bring to
> the developing world.
>
> "We need to think of ways to bring wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)
> applications to
> the developing world, so as to make use of unlicensed radio spectrum
to
> deliver cheap and fast Internet access," he said.
>
> While providing developing communities with access to information is

> one of
> the main motivations behind the road-show, Crab -- whose
day
> job is
> at digital consultancy Lateral -- claims Informal's
> motivations are
> not purely altruistic. "A side effect of these projects is that it
> keeps us
> in touch with technical and creative developments in areas most
> companies
> don't look at, it keeps our roots in the real world," he said.
>
> Crab admitted that providing open access to information in some
> countries
> could be politically sensitive but he claimed that there is a lot of
> misleading information circulated about some countries approach
> controlling
> Internet access. "You have to be very careful about how you approach

> it but
> there are a lot of myths about countries such as China -- they
> actually have
> very free access compared to some places," he said.
>
> China has been heavily criticised by organisations such as Amnesty
> International for its attempts to censor Internet traffic and
> imprisoning
> several individuals for Internet-related crimes.
>
>
>
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

> -
>
>

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I sent this using an email address...

You can too, by going to www.blogger.com , selecting Community Owned...,
going to the settings...emails and entering an email address for u to
use for your posts!

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WirelessAnarchy has arrived - hide the kids......another link by Johan

WirelessAnarchy has arrived - hide the kids.

Brismesh Inc. FAQ...link supplied by Johan

Brismesh Inc. FAQ